Trespassers warned to stay out of Vt. firing range

Written by Associated Press

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Alison Mutler

The Vermont National Guard wants hunters and other civilians to stay off its firing range.

The Ethan Allen Firing Range covers 11,000 acres in three towns: Bolton, Jericho, and Underhill. The federal property is used as a training site for soldier preparing for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, but officials say they’ve been dealing with an increase in trespassers.

Lt. Col. Matthew Fitzgerald told The Burlington Free Press that six intruders have been caught trespassing since early October, including three men using an ATV to drag away a deer they had shot.

Fitzgerald says the trespassers are putting both themselves and the soldiers at risk of injury. In once incident, a soldier had to take cover when hunters began shooting from 50 yards away.

Source: http://nhbr.com/News/StateNewEngland/444686-227/trespassers-warned-to-stay-out-of-vt..html

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Community Voices

“Farmers as a group rarely tend to want more government regulation. But the growing problem of trespassing caused by illegal riders spurred our membership into action to pass common-sense visible identification and ORV enforcement measures. We are proud that we were able to work with rider groups to find a solution that all sides could agree to.”

- Christopher Henney, Director of Legislative Relations, Ohio Farm Bureau Federation